Registering device for pool games.



Patented Nov.

3 Sheets8heat I.

W. TABER.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR POOL GAMES. (A lication filed pr 26,19

(No Model.)

IN'VENTOH William Taber:

Patented Nov. 20; I900.

W. TABE-R.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR POOL GAMES.

(Application filed Apr. 28, 1900.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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No. 662,322. Patented Nov. 20, I900. W. TABER.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR POOL GAMES.

(Application filed Apr. 26, 1900.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

WITNESSES: //V VE N 7019 Q M William 1&5;

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM TABER, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEYV YORK.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR POOL GAMES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,322, dated November 20, 1900.

Application filed April 26, 1900. derial No. 14,457. (No model.)

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM TABER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Registering Device for P001 Games, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

One purpose of this invention is to provide a device so constructed that each time a triangle used in connect-ion with the game of pool is removed from its rack or support one game will be registered by suitable mechanism carried by the rack or support, which rack or support is also provided with means for registering a series of games.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide mechanism through the medium of which the number of players in a game may be indicated and the record of such players also made upon a concealed tape, thus enabling an attendant to be accurately informed with relation to the games and players, and an inspector may also readily ascertain at any time the number of games played at a table and the number of players in the various games.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved device viewed from the front. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a like section on the line 4: 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken practically on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view showing a portion of the front of the device and the locking arm for the triangle in cross-section; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross-section through the upper portion of the device, illustrating the locking-arm raised and held in raised position.

The body A of the device is of box-like construction and may be made of any suitable or approved material. Preferably the back the base of the triangle bears against a latch 12, formed upon the front surface of the body A at the bottom of the depression or pocket, as shown in Fig. 1. The body is provided with a keyhole 13 at one side of the pocket for the triangle, and between the keyhole and outer edge of the body an opening 14c is produced which is adapted to expose numerals representing the number of games played by one party, for example, and at the opposite side of the body a corresponding opening 15 is produced at which numerals appear indicating the number of players taking part in a game. The manner in which these numerals are made to appear at the openings 1-1- and 15 will he hereinafter described. Preferably above the opening 15 an opening 16 is made which will expose the figures on a register, and the figures on this register are adapted to indicate the number of games played at a certain table for a specified length of time.

The registering devicelocated at the opening 14 and adapted to indicate the number of games played by a person or a party is best shown at the leftin Fig. 2, in which it will be observed that the arbor ofadisk 18 is mounted in a bracket 17, located upon the inner face of the body A, and this disk is provided with numerals 19, reading from O to as high a figure as may be desired, and these numerals are so placed that as the disk revolves they will appear one after the other at the opening 14. A spring 20 is attached to the disk 18 and to the bracket 17, and when the disk 18 is free to act this spring 20 tends to carry a projection 21 at the periphery of the disk in engagement with a stop 22, which is located upon the body A. The arbor of the disk 18 is provided with a ratchet-wheel 23 at its inner end, and this ratchet-wheel is engaged by a pawl 24, pivoted on the bracket 17 and controlled by a spring 25, and when the projection 21 from the disk is against the pin 22 a cipher will appear at the opening 14, and this cipher may be made to take the position stated whenever a pin 26, which passes from the front of the body inward, is pressed inward or backward, as this pin 26 is provided with abeveled surface 27, (shown in Fig. 4,) and as the pin is pressed inward or backward it raises the upper end of the pawl 241, carrying the lower end of the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel 23, thus permitting the controlling-spring of the disk 18 to act. The pin 26 is normally held in position to extend beyond the outer face of the body by engagement with a suitable spring 26.

The disk 18, carrying the numerals which are to design ate the number of games played, is operated by a dog 28, engaging with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 23, which dog is carried by an arm 30, the arm being pivotally attached to the bolt 31 of a lock 32 of any description. The bolt 31 extends beyond both sides of the lock and is normally forced in an opposite direction to the disk 18 by a suitably disposed spring 32, which bears against an enlarged portion 32 of the bolt, and this enlarged portion is that which has play in the lock 32. The bolt 31 is provided at or near its center with a shoulder 33 produced in its lower edge, and this shoulder is spaced some distance from the section 32 of the bolt, which has movement directly in the lock.

The triangle B is held in position and is released from the recess 10in the following manner and usually by the following-named mech anism: A standard 34 is secured to the upper portion of the rear face of the pocket 11 or the rear surface of the depression in which the triangle is placed, and the standard extends beyond the upper edge of the said pocket, as shown in Fig. 2. A locking-arm 35 is pivoted at its inner end in the upper portion of the standard 34, and thislocking-arm extends forward through a slot 36 in the body A, and the outer or free end of the lockingarm 35 is provided with a head 37, usually hook-shaped and adapted to engage with the upper outer portion of the triangle B when the triangle is placed in the recess 10, for the purpose of holding the triangle in place. The lockingarm is raised when the bolt 31 is thrown, which is accomplished through the medium of a key placed in the lock, and the raising mechanism for the locking-arm consists of a curved or segmental lever 38 or a lover of any suitable shape, which is fulerumed on the inner face of the body A. One end of this lever is preferably slotted, as shown in Fig. 2, to receive a pin 39, carried by the bolt 31, while the other end of the lever 38 is carried beneath the locking-arm 35. A spring A0 is secured at one end at one side of the pocket ll, usually to the inner face of the body, and this spring 40 extends up to the top of the pocket and then downward into the pocket through an opening 41, as shown in Fig. 3. The locking-arm 35, as shown in the same figure and in Fig. '7, is provided with a pin 42, which is passed through its formingstuds at opposite faces upon opposite faces of the arm near its inner end, and these studs, when the arm is raised through the action of the lever 38, are engaged at their bottom portions by a spring 43, bifurcated to receive the locking-arm. This spring 43, which is practically a keeper when engaging with the studs 42, serves to hold the locking-arm in an elevated position or so that the head 37 of the locking-arm will be released from the triangle B, and at such time the mainspring 40 will move to the front and will force the upper portion of the triangle from its rest or pocket to such an extent that it may be readily grasped by the operator. When the lockingarm 35 is in the upper position just referred to and the triangle is placed in position in its recess or pocket after having been used, the triangle will force the upper portion of the mainspring 40 inward or rearward and will carry the spring 43 from beneath the lockingarm 35, whereupon the said locking-arm will be forced down ward in locking engagementby a tension device 36, which is also a spring and has bearing upon the upper edge of said locking-arm. Thehead of the locking-arm will then hold the triangle in place, and at that time the shouldered portion of the bolt will be over the locking-arm, as shown in Fig. 2, and will prevent the locking-arm from being raised until the bolt has been shot back by a key introduced in the lock. At this point it may be stated that,supposing the triangle to be locked in the device, if a key is placed in the lock and the bolt is thrown in direction of the disk 18,.

(shown at the left in Fig. 2,) the bolt will cause the arm 29 to turn the ratchet-wheel 23 the distance of one tooth through the medin 1n of the dog 28 and another numeral will appear at the opening 14, indicating that a second game has been commenced, and when the bolt has been thus thrown, the shouldered portion 33 of the bolt having been carried out of engagement with the locking-arm 35, the lever 38 will be operated by the bolt in a manner to raise the locking-arm and clear it from engagement with the locking-spring a3, thus releasing the triangle and permitting the mainspring to force the triangle outward. As the keyis further turned the bolt is thrown in an opposite direction against the tension of the spring 32", and the shouldered portion 33 of the bolt will engage with one side of the locking-arm. After the locking-arm has been raised by the lever 38 the supporting-spring 43 will automatically assume a position beneath the studs 42 of the locking-arm and hold the said arm in its upper position, as shown in Fig. 8. When the triangle is again introduced into the pocket or recess of the device, the mainspring 40 is forced rearward, as can be observed in Fig. 8, and will engage with the supporting-spring 43 and carry it rearward from engagement with the offsets 42, permitting the tension device 36 to force released by pressing the button or pin 26.

the locking-arm downward, and as soon as the locking-arm assumes its locking position (shown in Fig. 3) the spring 32 will cause the bolt 31 to be thrown slightly farther or until the lower edge of the bolt at the shouldered portion 33 engages with the upper edge of the locking-arm, as shown in Fig. 2.

The registering device 38, adapted to be located at the opening 16 and to indicate the number of games played during a certain pe riod of time, may be of any approved construction. However, such device is preferably lever-operated, and the leveris indicated at 39 in Fig. 2. This lever 39 receives one end of a second or trip lever 40, fulcrumed upon a suitable bracket 41, located at the rear of the body A, and the second or trip lever 40 is provided with a slot 42, which receives a pin or projection 43 from the end or the bolt 31 farthest removed from the lock or the end which is opposite that used to oper ate the registering or number disk 18, adapted to indicate one or more separate series of games played. Thus it will be observed that whenever the triangle is detached from the device and the registering-disk is operated the registering device 38 will be simultaneously operated one point or one number. In this manner this registering device will indicate, as stated, the total number of games played within a given length of time at one table.

In addition to the general registering device 38 and the registering or number disk 18 an other registering device is employed at the opening 15, adapted to indicate the number of players in a game. This latter device consists of a disk 4b, the arbor of which is mounted to turn in a bracket 45, as shown in Fig. 2,and the disk is provided with a peripheral projection 47, corresponding to the projection 21 of the disk 18,:ind the projection 47 is adapted to normally engage with a pin 48. This disk 4o has numerals produced upon its front face read ing from zero upward, and these numerals are adapted to appear consecutively at the opening 15 as the diskis turned, and when the projection 47 is in engagement with the pin 48 a cipher will appear at the opening 15. The disk 46 is controlled by a spring 49, attached to its arbor and to the bracket 45, and a ratchet-wheel 50 is attached to the inner end of the said arbor. This ratchet-wheel is normally engaged by a detent 51, attached "to an arm carried from a link 44, the link being pivoted to the bracketand having pivotal engagement with the bolt 31, and when the ratchet-wheel is relieved from the detent 51 they spring 49 of the disk 46 will act and carry the projection 47 to an engagement with the pin 48, thus showing zero at the opening 15, Therefore it will be observed that each time the triangle 8 is released the disk 46 will be turned in a manner to indicate zero; but, as heretofore stated, when zero is to be indicated at the opening 14 the spring of the disk 18 is Under this construction it will be observed that if the same persons play two or three games they will be consecutively indicated at the opening 14 in the body; but each time a new game is started the disk 46 is automatically operated to indicate zero at the opening 15. This dish 46 is turned in order to indicate the number of players in the game started, which may be done in any suitable or approved manner, usually by hand and through the mechanism illustrated, which mechanism consists of a handle 2, attached to a shaft 53, extending through the front portion of the body A, and this shaft is provided with an arm 54 at its inner end, the movement of the arm in one direction being limited by a pin 55. This arm extends farther below the shaft 53 than above it and its lower end is attached to a rod 56, having a perforating free end, and said rod 56 has sliding and guided movement in a suitable bracket 58, attached to the inner face of the body. This bracket 58 carries two opposing jaws 59 and 60, which are rigid, and the space between the jaws 59 and U0 is inclined or diagonal, as shown in Fig. 2. A tape (51 is passed through the space between these jaws, the perforating-section of the rod 56 having movement in the jaws, so that when the handle 52 is turned in one direction the rod 50 forced in direction of the jaws 59 and (30 and the perforatingrod will pass through the tape, and the handle 52 is thus moved for i tell player taking part in the game, so that as each game is played the number of players in that game will beindicated by the perforations in the taoe 61 as well as appearing at the opening 15. The tape 61 passes over a drum (52, mounted on the bracket 45 and in engage nent with a guide-roller (54, the spool (35 con ning the tape being carried by a spindle 65, provided with a suitable tension device on. The tapeis carried from the spool 0'5 over the drum 62, then to an engagement. with the guide-roller 64, and thence between the jaws 5i) and 60 to a spool 67, the shaft to which the spool 67 is secured being provided with a pinion (58, which meshes with a gear (38, forming a portion of a springdruin (if) of ordinary ccmstruction, (shown in Figs. 2 and 6,) the spring of which drum is wound through the medium of a suitable arbor or post 70, carrying a ratchet-wheel 71, which is engaged by a proper pawl 72, as illustrated in Fig. The arbor or post 70 is supported by a si'iitable bracket 73. The tape is drawn from the spool 65 through the action of the handle 52 and after it is perforat ed is wound upon the spool 67 through the medium of the spring-drum 69. The mauner in which the tape is drawn from the spool 65 is, preferably, that shown in Fig. 2, in which a roll '73 is connected with the upper portion of the arm 54, the rod being held to slide in a proper guide 74, attached to the bracket This rod carries two spring-controlled dogs 75 and 76, the lowerdog 76 being in constant engagement with the ratchet wheel 63, attached to the upper guide-drum 62 for the tape 61, While the upper dog 75 is in position to engage with the ratchet-wheel on the arbor of the registering-disk 56. Therefore when the handle 52 is carried down ward at any time the rod 63 is drawn inward and the upper dog 75 will be brought in engagement with the ratchet-wheel 50, turning the ratchet-wheel one tooth, and thus changing the dial of the disk at at the opening 15 one no rnber,while at the same time the ratchetwheel (58 will be turned and the tape 6i will be drawn from the feed-spool 65, so that it can be taken up by the receivingspool 67 when the tape has been perforated, and said tape is perforated, as has been stated, each time the handle 52 is moved downward. The link 4% is continued down, as illustrated at lel in 2, to an engagement with the ratchet-wheel 63 on the drum for the purpose of regulating the travel of the tape be fore the latter is released.

The body A is attached to a wall or other support, usually at one end,by suitable hinges 77, and the other end is provided with a bolt 78, adapted for engagement with any form of keeper.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. in a registering device for pool games, a triangle, a support provided with a pocket adapted to receive the triangle, a locking device for the triangle, a belt, a mechanism for operating the bolt, and means whereby the bolt controls the movement of the locking device for the triangle.

2. in a registering device for pool games a triangle, a support for the triangle, a looking device for the support, a releasing mechanism for the locking device, and an indicator operated by the r leasing mechanism for the locking device, as set forth.

In a registering device for pool games, a triangle, a support for the triangle, a locking device for the triangle, a bolt mechanism controlling the locking device, a lock controlling the bolt mechanism, and registering devices operated from said bolt simultaneously with the release of the lockingmechanism, as described.

4;. In a registering device for pool games, triangle, a support for the triangle, a looking device for the triangle, a releasing mechanism for the locking device, and registeringdials adapted to be simultaneously turned and operated from the releasing mechanism, as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a registering device for pool games, a triangle, a support for the triangle, a looking device for the triangle, a releasing mechanism for the locking device, registering-dials adapted to be simultaneously turned and operated from the releasing mechanism ,a punch, a tape adapted to be operated upon by said punch, guides for the said tape, and means for operating one of the registeringdials sim ultaneously with the operation of the punch, as described.

6, In a registering device for pool games, a support having an opening therein, a spring controlled indicating-disk provided with numerals arranged to appear consecutively at the said opening in the said support, a stop limiting the movement of the indicating-disk in one direction, a triangle, a locking device for the triangle, and mechanism for simultaneously releasing the locking device for the triangle and permitting the indicatii'ig-disk to freely turn, as described.

7. In a registering device for pool games, a triangle, a support provided with a pocket adapted to receive the triangle, a mainspring entering the pocket and adapted to force the triangle therefrom when the triangle is free, a tension-controlled locking-arm for the triangle, a spring-s11 pport for the locking-arm, adapted to support the same in an upper position when the triangle is free from its pocket, and a bolt mechanism arranged to lock the locking-arm and to release the same, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

W'ILLIAIMI TABER.

\Vitnesses:

GEORGE OVEROCKER, S. H. GARDENIER. 

